Prosecutors want to use powers of investigation usually reserved for terrorism cases to track down the culprits, while a senior government minister said they posed an "asymmetric threat" - language usually reserved for suicide bombers.

Greek fire-fighting helicopters, aided by dozens of aircraft sent from other countries, rescued villagers trapped in isolated farms and houses in the southern Peloponnese peninsula, which has been worst hit.

The site of ancient Olympia appeared to have been saved from the flames while blazes continued to ravage the rest of the area.

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As the death toll rose to more than 60, Greek authorities announced a battle plan to take on the arsonists who many believe have caused the national emergency.

In Athens, Dimitris Papangelopoulos, normally a senior prosecutor in terrorism cases, has ordered an investigation to find out whether the attacks could be considered terrorism.

Vyron Polydoras, the public order minister, made it clear that he believed anti-terror laws were applicable. "We can say this constitutes an asymmetric threat," he said.

Anti-terror squads were already questioning 32 suspects yesterday afternoon, as the Greek government offered rewards of up to \u20AC1 million (£675,000) for information.

The money appeared to be a concerted attempt to challenge what seems the routine of setting fires every summer.

Dimitris Karavellas, the Greek World Wildlife Fund's director, said yesterday: "It is a culture of arson."

He said Greeks "still consider the forest as an area of land for development" and criticised the country's failure to establish a land registry that sets out which areas are protected from development.

"We are the only country in the EU that doesn't have a land registry," he said. "We get situations where there are forest fires one year and nothing but houses a couple of years later."

Costas Karamanlis, the prime minister, has announced that all burned trees would be replanted to counter the threat of mass development.

Mr Karamanlis faces general elections in three weeks, and the fires are certain to play a role in the campaign.

Smaller fires across Greece in June and July have already prompted large demonstrations in the first public demand for tougher anti-arson legislation.

Fire-fighters hope to have the blazes under control before then, thanks to a lull in winds forecast for the middle of this week.

Environmentalists warned that the ecosystem could take years to recover, with tens of thousand of hectares of forest destroyed.

"Mediterranean ecosystems are used to forest fires," said Mr Karavellas. "The real challenge is in letting nature do its job - so you don't get cement in places where there used to be only trees."

• Politicians in Italy yesterday called for "decisive action" against arsonists who have been blamed for fires that have killed 13 people this summer.

Authorities believe most of the fires were deliberate, with reports of the Mafia paying arsonists to clear land wanted for profitable development.